In general, getting a cease-and-desist letter from a big corporation isn't the mark of a good day. But after a brewery owner got a letter from a law firm representing Starbucks, he saw a chance to draw distinctions between the businesses -- and to be funny.

Zero. That's the total amount of revenue created by Snapchat in 2013. It's the total profit collected by Twitter. And it's roughly how much Apple's stock price has increased between early last December and now.

This is one of the best times of the year to spot gray whales off the coast of Southern California as they migrate south for the winter. But recently, there have been an unusually high number of sightings of other whales.

On the November day in 2001 when Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor, two things were prominent in New York City's air: fumes from the World Trade Center's smoldering remains, and tobacco smoke in the city's bars, restaurants and other public spaces.

Many doctors aren't asking teenagers about sex or sexuality, and those who do are spending just 36 seconds on the topic, on average. That's not much time to get into sexually transmitted diseases or birth control, let alone sexual orientation, dating or other big topics.

The Marine Corps' new physical fitness standards requiring female Marines to do pullups were to go into effect New Year's Day. But because of the high failure rate of women Marines attempting to complete pullups, that requirement has been delayed.

Awards season is in full swing with “12 Years a Slave” and “American Hustle” leading the nominations from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and Online Film Critics Society. Oscar nominations are due out on January 16 but you won't find those titles topping the Cinema Junkie Awards.

Intercepted packages. Custom-made cables that steal data. Towers that mimic a commercial cellphone network. Those are a few of the tricks used by elite units of the National Security Agency to monitor potential threats, according to Germany's Der Spiegel. The magazine published those revelations Sunday and Monday, detailing what it calls a catalog of the NSA's high-tech spying products and methods.

Republicans may not have figured out how to connect better with minority groups yet. Neither have they settled on how to cut down on the primary debates where their candidates take turns eviscerating each other.

Monday's memorial paddle out and beach gathering is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Seaside Reef. Attendees are encouraged to bring a candle to light for longtime San Diego television journalist Loren Nancarrow.

Traffic between San Diego and Ensenada was detoured away from the southern end of the Baja California toll road Sunday, because a chunk of it collapsed towards the ocean following a series of small earthquakes and recent heavy rainfall.

At the end of this month, Michael Bloomberg ends his three terms as mayor of New York City. Assessing Bloomberg's legacy, a man who went from Republican to Independent, is not a simple thing to do. His 12 years in office were groundbreaking, locally and even globally.

Millions of people are turning their thoughts to self-improvement and New Year's resolutions this week. And one of the most common resolutions, after promises to lose weight or get in better shape, is to be better about money.